Ammar Ali Hassan, Shajarat al 'Abid (Worshipper's Tree), Cairo: Nefro, 2011
Akif, the hero of this book -- the word means "recluse" -- lives in a Sufi ambience despite the politically, socially, and economically disturbed surroundings.
He is a rebellious student at Al Azhar, torn between changing the world and changing himself.
When he joins a coup attempting to replace the tyrannous sultan, his life changes. It is the danger and complexity of this experience that gives him access to hitherto unknown parts of himself, leading him on a new journey of connection with the divine, which is embodied in his search for the Worshipper's Tree, an inner as well as an outer quest.
Set in medieval Cairo, at its start the text evokes Hadith as Sabah wal Massaa (Morning and Evening Conversation) by Naguib Mahfouz, in which the borders between reality and dreams, human beings and djinn break down. Akif is in love with Namar, a genie very like a human woman, who guides him through a fantasy world similar to our own.
The rich, energetic world of medieval Cairo, of Sufi lodges, Coptic monasteries and bloody court intrigues, is colourfully evoked.
One touching detail in Akif's journey is his connection with Namar and Hafssa, her human counterpart as it were, which sheds light on the role of women in mysticism, evoking the great figure Rab'a al Adawiya.
Other characters too are searching for the tree, but there is no conflict in their interactions. And the verse from Surat an Nur (24, 35 of the Quran) becomes of particular relevance:
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth;
the example of His light is like a niche in which is a lamp;
the lamp is in a glass;
the glass is as if it were a star shining like a pearl,
kindled by the blessed olive tree,
neither of the east nor of the west --
it is close that the oil itself get ablaze
although the fire does not touch it;
light upon light;
Allah guides towards His light whomever He wills;
and Allah illustrates examples for mankind;
and Allah knows everything.
Dating all the way back to the Kabala, the tree as a symbol is a powerful locus for Akif's journey of self and homeland discovery, and not before the end do we find out if he is destined for life as a religious scholar, a revolutionary or a dervish.
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